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With Missouri’s medical marijuana program’s continued progress, even more residents are reaping the benefits of their new medicine. Cannabis is a natural option for quick relief and peace of mind.
Unfortunately, medical marijuana remains costly in the state of Missouri, and patients are calling for lower prices for their medicine. There are many ways you can save money on your medicine, such as joining your dispensary's membership program or signing up for their text updates, which alert you about sales and discounts.
However, if you would like to cut back your spending on cannabis even more, there is another option: grow your own! In Missouri, it is legal for medical marijuana patients to grow and use their own supply.
Whether you have a green thumb, want to save some money, or venture into a new hobby, cultivating your own marijuana at home is a fun and resourceful project for medical marijuana patients.
Before you begin growing, here are some tips and tricks.
Weed Plants & Their Gender
If you are new to the world of cannabis, you may not know this, but weed plants are gendered. Not only that, but their gender makes a huge difference in yield and cultivation problems.
Male weed plants do not grow any consumable flower, so female plants are your best friend if you are new to growing! Male plants can also steal valuable resources from your female plants and hurt the growing progress of your female plants.
In other words, if you are new to home cultivation, make sure you are purchasing female plants and seeds. However, it isn’t so easy to tell right away, so if you do end up with a male weed plant, not to worry–they still have plenty of uses!
Identifying Male Weed Plants
You can usually tell if a plant is male or female due to male plants having thicker stalks and less leaves, and male plants also grow taller and develop faster than female plants. But sativa and indica plants also complicate things.
Here are some useful tips on how to identify male vs female weed plants:
Check the joints of the stem. All weed plants develop pre-flowers. Female plant pre-flowers have white hairs, and male pre-flowers will have bulbs.
If the plant is tall with thick stalks and fewer leaves, it is probably male.
Female plants will have more leaves, thinner stalks, and tend to be bushier.
Pre-flowers normally develop in between 1-4 weeks, depending on the gender. Make sure to keep a close eye on your plants when you begin cultivation, so you can catch the gender early.
Male plants grow pre-flowers, but they will not grow buds, which is why they don’t yield consumable flower. Because of this, their THC and CBD concentrations are lower than the levels in the female plants.
In order to avoid any problems, it is crucial that you separate male and female weed plants. Male plants can deeply interfere with the growth and THC content of your female plants.
Male Plant Uses
Although male weed plants might seem like a cultivator’s worst nightmare, they still have some uses and benefits! First of all, they can lend a hand with pest control and disease prevention.
Although male plants don’t have high levels of THC and CBD, they still contain some other cannabinoids and terpenes. Actually, male plants offer more cannabinoids in their leaves than they do in their flowers.
You can use the leaves of your male plant to make both THC and CBD concentrates. Although it probably will not be as effective as a concentrate from a female plant, it can still aid in pain relief.
Male plants can also be harvested for their hemp fibers, which can be used for many different things, like making clothing!
Start the Process Today!
The first step to starting your own cultivation process is getting your medical marijuana card. If you don’t already have yours, we can help with that!
Our doctors are standing by to take you through a quick and easy evaluation to see if you qualify. During your evaluation, they will be happy to answer all your questions about how cannabis may be able to help with your anxiety or any other medical conditions.
Schedule an appointment with a marijuana professional online by giving us a call at
(877) 303-3117 to talk to a patient support representative.
Doctors Who Care.
Relief You Can Trust.
At Missouri Marijuana Card, our mission is to help everyone achieve wellness safely and conveniently through increased access to medical marijuana. Our focus on education, inclusion, and acceptance will reduce the stigma for our patients by providing equal access to timely information and compassionate care.
Call us at (877) 303-3117, or simply book a medical marijuana evaluation to start getting the relief you can trust today!
Check out Missouri Marijuana Card’s Blog to keep up to date on the latest medical marijuana news, tips, and information. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to join the medical marijuana conversation in Missouri!